Thursday, October 26, 2017

God Saw Their Works Jonah 3:10

When Jonah cried out against the city of Nineveh, not only did the people humble themselves, but also the king “clothed himself in sackcloth”, “sat in ashes” and made a proclamation that every man and beast in the city were to humble themselves in the same manner. The king hoped this would persuade the LORD to alter His plan of destruction pronounced upon them. In chapter three and verse ten of this prophesy, “God saw their works” and “repented of the evil” He said He would do. We read:

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

The verse begins, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;” The writer began with the words, “And God” which refers to “the ruler, judge and divine One who is the one true God” “saw their works” or “looked at, perceived, inspected and considered their deeds, things done, actions, pursuits, undertakings and achievements”, “that they turned” which means “returned, restored, refreshed and repaired” “from their evil way” which means “bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, painful, miserable and displeasing manner, path, direction and journey”. When the king of Nineveh, the people, and the animals within the city humbled themselves and fasted because of the proclamation against them, the LORD “saw” their repentance from their “evil” way of living.

The verse goes on to say, “and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” The writer continued, “and God” which refers to “the ruler, judge and divine One who is the one true God” “repented” which means “was moved to pity, had compassion and eased” “of the evil” or “bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, painful, miserable and displeasing”, “that he had said” which means “that God had spoken, declared, conversed, threatened and promised” “that he would do” or “fashion, accomplish, make and produce” “unto them” which refers to the people of Nineveh. After God saw the repentance of the people in Nineveh, He had “pity and compassion” upon them and did not carry out the destruction proclaimed by Jonah.

When we consider the words in this verse, we marvel at the ways of God. Although He was prepared to destroy Nineveh, He altered His plan when the people “humbled themselves and repented” of their “evil ways”. This demonstrates the “compassion” of the LORD for people. He does not desire to “destroy”, but He desires to “save” all who will turn to Him in humility and repentance. The gospel of John in chapter three and verse seventeen says, “For God did not send his son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved”. God “so” loves people, that He longs for them to humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways and call out to Him, and when they do, He will pour out His abundant mercy and grace instead of bringing judgment upon them they deserve.

Next time we begin the final chapter of this prophesy and see how this angered Jonah, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites,
http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.




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